Queer theory has a fundamental flaw: queer. This thesis seeks to explore the fractured usages, meanings, and scopes of the term queer to uncover the power structures that have been created within and around the term. Specifically, this thesis analyzes the ways in which academic queer theorists, the university system, and LGBTQ+ groups and activists, in an attempt to make the queer useful, perpetuate limiting definitions of the word queer that create power structures that re-marginalize some queer people. Queer, being a reclaimed slur, is sometimes used to describe members of the LGBTQ+ community. It has recently been adopted by a variety of groups to make the term politically useful. In doing so, the term has developed many, often conflicting, meanings. A term that means everything, however, has very little analytical use. Because of this, attempts to make the term queer useful to have unintended implications that re-marginalize some queer people. / Master of Arts / Recently (meaning within the past 20 to 30 years) the term queer has been used to describe a certain type of person and a certain type of thought. Stemming from the slur used against members of the LGBTQ+ community, the term queer has a variety of meanings. This work explores the history of the term queer and begins to untangle the various ways queer can be defined. This study of the word queer uncovers various power structures that surround the term. Specifically, this work discusses the way that certain definitions of the term queer and certain formations of queer thought limit and exclude individuals who use the term to describe themselves. This work focuses on three main areas: academia, undergraduate syllabi, and activism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/83421 |
| Date | 30 May 2018 |
| Creators | Erb, Michael S. |
| Contributors | Political Science, Blouin-Genest, Gabriel, Faulkner, Brandy S., Caraccioli, Mauro J. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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